A Q&A With ABA’s 2011 Candidates for President and Vice President

This week, ABA presidential candidate Becky Anderson and vice presidential candidate Steve Bercu talk about the challenges facing independent bookstores and ABA’s role in helping members meet those challenges head-on.

ABA main store members have until April 25 to cast their ballots to elect three directors and a new president and vice president for terms on the Board, beginning May 2011. Electronic ballots and candidate bios were sent to all members in an e-mail from ABA on March 23.

Becky Anderson is part of the fifth generation to operate the family-owned business that includes Anderson’s Bookshops in Naperville and Downers Grove, Illinois, and Anderson’s Bookfair Company in Aurora, Illinois. Becky has been a member of the ABA Board of Directors since 2006 and has served as vice president for the past two years. If elected, she will be the first president under the recently amended bylaws to serve a two-year term.

BTW: What do you perceive as the biggest challenges facing independent booksellers today?

Becky Anderson: Making sure that the public, our customers, and our communities know that we are still here – we are strong, we are engaged, we are the heart and soul of many of our cities and towns. IndieBound and all of the many Local First organizations that have been formed by booksellers around the country need to grow and expand to other communities. Education, Education, Education – of our existing customers, consumers in general, and potential customers of the countless services we offer. E-books are another enormous education piece – to disseminate to the public that we can curate and sell e-books at competitive prices. Making this process more seamless and adding other needed bells and whistles through IndieCommerce sites will help to level the playing field. We also need to assist booksellers who have other types of websites. Continued talks with publishers and authors alike will help us change the way we have been doing business for decades; it’s time to shake things up, create new models, and sell more books – no matter the format.

What do you think ABA can and ought to be doing to meet those challenges?

BA: I think ABA has done brilliant and incredible work in helping independent booksellers with Independent Business Alliances – this message and the materials can always be strengthened and promoted. The Wild Frontier of E-books, reading devices, and where this will all land is still up for grabs, but ABA is meeting those challenges and keeping abreast of any changes in the frontier. Those tools are essential for our survival in the e-book market; there cannot be the impression that we are the backward channel. Building better lines of communication between booksellers and publishers and authors will only ensure that we protect the literary landscape. New models of buying and selling books need to be developed. I think everyone can agree that business as usual is not what will work. Our own education can never stop, and that includes learning how to educate the larger public – a message that can never stop.

How do you think your tenure on the Board will help you in the role of president?

BA: My tenure on the Board has opened my eyes to how incredibly hard and dedicated the staff of ABA works for all of us. Their passion, expertise, and creativeness give me so much optimism and hope for the future success of independent bookselling. I have been so privileged to be on a board with such brilliant and passionate colleagues. To be privy to so much of what is going on in our industry and to connect with booksellers everywhere has given me a perspective that I did not have five years ago. I knew we were involved in probably the rarest of associations, but my tenure has sealed that hands down. We are the most generous, committed, and sharing group of individuals in business today!

What makes you most optimistic about independent bookselling today?

BA: There are so many opportunities waiting for us out there – we just need to reach out and collaborate with each other and anyone in our communities. Community, home, and sustainability are all words that are striking a chord with people everywhere. The agency model and other talks about implementing new terms and models for how we do business with our publishing partners hold such brilliant potential for all of us. ABA has provided us with invaluable education that keeps us relevant, connected, and visible in a rapidly changing world of books. If we remain connected, we will all have a voice that will be heard.

Finally, what are you currently reading?